Today, we’re diving deep into the buzz around Microsoft 365 Copilot, particularly its impact on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) given the annual, upfront cost of $360 per user. With the excitement comes a crucial question: Is it feasible for SMBs, and what does the return on investment (ROI) look like?
In this article, I’ll break down some key calculations on achieving over 100% ROI with just two hours saved per month per employee. Plus, I’ll share some strategies for scaling and adopting Copilot to maximize your ROI effectively.
For those keen on insights around Microsoft and the SMB space, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter in the right-hand side of my website.
Understanding the Investment
It’s vital to grasp the upfront cost of adopting Copilot, especially for SMBs. The annual prepaid model—$30 a month billed yearly—means a significant upfront investment. For a 25-person SMB this would be a $9,000 commitment. However, Microsoft’s recent policy update, eliminating minimum user requirements, allows SMBs to try Copilot with a few users before a full-scale rollout.
ROI Breakdown
Microsoft’s own slides, repurposed for our discussion today, reveal that the break-even point for Copilot investment is 54 minutes saved per month given an employee salary of $70k per year. Over 100% return is achieved with just 2 hours saved each month.
From Early Adopters to SMB Application
While initial feedback from Copilot’s early adopters—largely from enterprise-sized companies—shows promising productivity boosts, it’s essential to tailor these insights to the SMB context. Impressively, one in three users reported saving over 30 minutes daily, underscoring Copilot’s potential to enhance productivity significantly. I believe SMB can see similar if not better numbers, given the appropriate rollout and training.
Strategies for SMB Implementation
Adoption doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. Starting small, perhaps with a focus on reducing time spent on emails or meeting recaps, can showcase Copilot’s value. My personal experience echoes this: summarizing team meetings with Copilot saves me five to ten minutes per meeting. For someone with a heavy meeting schedule, this can translate into substantial time savings and a solid ROI.
Considering Copilot’s promising capabilities, the key to unlocking its full potential lies in strategic implementation and scaling. Questions about whom to onboard first and how to ensure rapid adoption are crucial. Microsoft’s phased approach, emphasizing small, concentrated license distribution and champion-building within the organization, can guide SMBs toward realizing Copilot’s benefits without overwhelming their teams.
Monitoring Adoption
Through Viva Insights, a prebuilt Copilot dashboard is now in public preview where you can monitor adoption across the organization. This should extend into providing visibility into what types of prompts users are asking.
Conclusion
As we wrap up, it’s clear that Microsoft 365 Copilot presents a valuable opportunity for SMBs to drive productivity and gain a competitive edge. While the initial investment may seem daunting, the potential for a significant ROI, coupled with the flexibility to scale adoption, makes Copilot a compelling tool for SMBs aiming to enhance their operational efficiency. I believe the investment could easily be wasted if the proper rollout and training is not conducted.
The challenging concept will still be seeing how the ROI contributes to overall business efficiency and/or a potential competitive advantage. It’s asking the question, “are employees using the time they save to be more productive or are they just working less because they are more efficient?”. I think a key here is measuring output at a mid-management level and seeing how that improves after implementing Copilot. Measuring might involve tying performance back to KPIs or OKRs and seeing if there is more progress being made there as well. It could also be outwardly facing in that you are leveraging the tools to provide better customer service or something of that nature. An example at an MSP might be providing Copilot to the service team and seeing if that can make an impact on KPIs such as response times, resolution times, customer satisfaction, and utilization.
More to come on this topic in the future as we begin rolling out Copilot to our customers!